CHRIS PARKER GETS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME
Chris Parker spent his first three seasons at the Division II level, playing a key part in Henderson State’s success. Similar to Liberty a season ago, Parker and Henderson State won their conference tournament to earn the automatic bid to the Division II NCAA Tournament, but that tournament was also canceled before it began due to the COVID pandemic.
Parker decided to transfer up to the Division I level, and he has said multiple times this season that his sole purpose in coming to Liberty was to win a championship and get to the NCAA Tournament, something he has dreamed of since he was a kid.
“I came here for one reason, to win a championship,” Parker said on Sunday after Liberty’s win over North Alabama. “I didn’t have any other intentions coming here. I guess I just accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with this team.”
ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF 2020 NCAA TOURNAMENT BEING CANCELED
Today is the one-year anniversary of the 2020 NCAA Tournament officially being canceled. McKay gathered his team together last year at this time to deliver the news. It was certainly heart-breaking for that veteran team that won 59 games in their final two seasons and were looking to pick up an NCAA Tournament win for the second straight season. The 2020 version of the Flames will always have the what if questions surrounding them. That team had visions of making a run in the Big Dance.
While the seniors that were on that team didn’t get an opportunity to get back to the Tournament, the rest of the returners set out to make sure they took full advantage of the opportunities presented to them this year.
“I think we would be remissed if we didn’t remember Scottie James, Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Myo Baxter-Bell, and Caleb Homesley,” Flames’ head coach Ritchie McKay said on Sunday following the team’s win over UNA. “Those guys made some incredible deposits in this program. Even though they didn’t get to experience the fruit of their labor in last year’s Tournament, I think the residual of what they did allowed this group to get to this point of our season. It’s a blessing to be able to advance to the Tournament, it’s rather hard to do. I know the guys in the locker room, I know they are very appreciative of this opportunity and very thankful for being able to do this.”
13-SEED LIKELY
It’s looking more and more likely that the Flames will end up on the 13-seed line on Selection Sunday. Liberty received a 12-seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, but it looks like a 13-seed is more likely this season for Liberty. As of late Thursday, 83 of the 117 bracket projections on BracketMatrix.com had the Flames on the 13 line. 32 of the brackets had Liberty as a 14 seed, 2 of them a 15 seed, with no brackets currently projecting a 12 or 15.
Who could Liberty play? The current 4 seeds on BracketMatrix are Oklahoma State, Texas, Purdue, and Virginia. That’s certain to change though as each of those teams are still in action in their conference tournaments.
FLAMES HEADING TO INDIANAPOLIS EARLY
Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the NCAA is requiring teams to present seven consecutive negative tests before competing in the NCAA Tournament this year. The Flames, since they were the first to secure their NCAA Tournament bid, began testing this past weekend. The NCAA is also requiring teams that know they will be in the field to arrive in Indianapolis and begin to quarantine on Saturday. So, Liberty will take in the Sunday selections from the hotel in Indianapolis.
